Ebola Outbreak

The Most Dangerous Thing About Ebola: It's Not as Dangerous Anymore

Paradoxically, the scariest thing about the ongoing Ebola outbreak in East Africa is that the new strain of the virus is not quite as deadly, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier variants of Ebola were at first glance more dangerous: those who got sick often died quickly. The new variant survives longer in those affected before they get sick and thus has time to spread to many more.

– Viruses that are extremely deadly often tend to limit their own spread because they quickly kill or make their hosts unable to pass on the infection, says medical doctor Peter Bai James.

No Ebola outbreak in history has spread as quickly and widely. On Friday, the death toll from the current outbreak in Congo-Kinshasa rose to over 4,000.

Health workers strike amid deadly outbreak

Several health workers in the hardest-hit area of ​​Congo-Kinshasa have launched a strike amid the deadly Ebola outbreak, Al Jazeera reports.

Government salary payments have been delayed, while staff are putting themselves at risk every day. Mother-of-four Kayimpa told CNN that she has not received a single salary payment, despite working at the hospital for months.

“We are risking our lives for the people,” she says.

The country’s communications minister, Patrick Muyaya, admits that administrative difficulties have led to delayed salaries, but promises that everyone will get their money.

More than 4,000 people have died in the country during the ongoing Ebola outbreak.